This invention concerns the storage of fluids such as gases and volatile liquids in compact containers. Gases such as hydrogen, methane, oxygen, nitrogen, and helium present difficult storage problems. They must be cooled to very low temperatures to be stored as cryogens at atmospheric pressure. Storage of desired quantities of such gases for novelty, commercial, and transportation applications at ambient temperature requires very high pressures.
Previous improvements in compact gas storage include the storage of acetylene in acetone and the storage of natural gas on activated carbons. Attempts to extend the surface area per gram of material include Fullerines, Fullerides, Fulleroids, carbon nanotubes, carbon whiskers, and carbonized: aerogels, foams, and natural fibers such as spider webs, etc. These examples fall short of the ability to practically store natural gas and hydrogen at densities capable of competing with liquid-state storage. Storage in: nanotubes, It crystalline whiskers, and within pores of particles pose the common problem of limited material efficiency because of the surface-to-volume characteristics, extremely limited heat transfer to and from such structures, and because these substrate geometries do not facilitate multiple-layer storage between expansive parallel surfaces.
The present invention overcomes the difficult storage problems of many potentially plentiful but relatively under-utilized gases such as hydrogen, natural gas, and landfill gas.
Objects and Advantages of the Present Inventions Include:
1. Provision of compact storage and retrieval system for gases such as hydrogen, methane, oxygen, nitrogen, and helium.
2. Provision of a low-cost method of manufacturing high-yield gas storage systems.
3. Provision of a system for controlling the rate of heat addition to endothermic releases of adsorbed gases.
4. Provision of optimized separation dimensions within extremely high surface-to-weight gas adsorption systems.
5. Provision of a system for enhancing heat removal during exothermic adsorption of gases.
6. Provision of a radially and axially reinforced, high strength fluid storage system capable of safely storing fluids at very high storage-pressure to system-weight ratios.
7. Provision of thin films of adsorbed liquids on extended surfaces to enhance adsorption capacities of certain gases.
8. Provision of ways to improve over the limitations of gas storage in micro-pores, scrolls, whiskers, spherical crystals, Buckey balls, and miniature tube structures.
9. Provision of multiple-molecular-layer fluid storage between expansive parallel surfaces.
10. Provision of controlled heat removal during exothermic adsorption of fluids on an integrated storage system.
11. Provision of controlled heat addition during endothermic desorption of fluids from an integrated storage system.
12. It is an object of the invention to utilize electric charge control to increase storage capacity and to facilitate release of fluids stored on surfaces and in capillary systems.
13. It is an object of the invention to utilize substantially parallel planes of high thermal conductivity material to provide efficient heat transfer to and from activated carbon, nanostructures, and miniature tubes located between layers of such planes.
14. It is an object of the invention to utilize electric charge control to facilitate exfoliation of substrates utilized for storage of fluids.
15. It is an object of the present invention to provide systems for cooking, heating, pure water generation, and electricity production that are inexpensive, highly portable and weight saving.
Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following specification and discussion of the drawings.